Proteins can be readily hydrolyzed by acid or enzymes to yield water-soluble hydrolyzates consisting of amino acids and peptides. However, the protein hydrolyzates usually exhibit a very bitter flavor and solutions thereof are highly colored with characteristic odors. Removal of the undesirable flavor, color and odor from protein hydrolyzates presents problems. Materials such as activated carbon, bentonite, zeolites and ion exchange resins have been employed in attempts to remove these undesired characteristics but such attempts have either been relatively ineffective or result in high product losses or are expensive.
Currently the medical conditions of hepatic encephalopathy and phenylketonuria are treated with diets formulated with pure amino acids with reduced levels of aromatic amino acids. Such formulations are not only very expensive but are not well accepted by the patient due to their undesirable flavors and odors. Many of these patients must remain on these diets for very long periods of time, thus making it a very expensive program indeed. Protein hydrolyzates from inexpensive protein sources having improved characteristics with respect to flavor, color and odor and having low levels of aromatic amino acids fulfills a real need in treating certain medical conditions as well as in other applications.